


To Leave a Mark

by dreamingthroughwords



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, femslash week lets go!!!, prompt 1 - landmarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29269491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingthroughwords/pseuds/dreamingthroughwords
Summary: In which Mòrag and Brighid discuss the nuances of landmarks.(XBC Femslash Week Day 1 - Landmark)
Relationships: Kagutsuchi | Brighid/Meleph | Mòrag Ladair
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: Xenoblade Femslash Week 2021





	To Leave a Mark

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm very excited to share my first piece for Femslash Week - a fic about Mòrag, Brighid, and the concept of the landmark. 
> 
> Follow [@XBCFemSlash](https://twitter.com/XBCFemslash) on twitter to find the amazing work of other creators this week!!!! 
> 
> Shoutout to XC2 for making it hard to have things post Chapter 5 take place during canon--if they have enough time to do sidequests while the Titan sinks, they have enough time to have a small chat, right?

They’re taking a break underneath the Lumos Pillar, because something about the cold truly makes everything much more exhausting.

It’s still cold, in this little concave that Brighid had located for them to rest enough so that no one passes out from overexertion. Pandoria said that she thinks they’d have enough time to make sure everyone is fit to go before Genbu sinks, and Mòrag believes this is the best possible choice. It is better to be just a moment late than to faint and miss the mark when it is most essential, after all.

Zeke and Pandoria were in the corner, doing something with Tora’s weapon while Poppi watched on. Pyra was managing a fire in the middle of the room, where Rex and Nia sat closest, and Mòrag herself was with them, just slightly off to the side.

Brighid had mentioned that she would keep watch by the door, but Mòrag knew her Blade better than that, and knew she wanted to take a moment to capture this new location and document it in her journal.

She watches Brighid from the centre of the room, her Blade leaning against the opening while one arm moves slightly as she sketches along inside her journal. Mòrag can picture the furrow of her eyebrows and tilt of her neck that she is so familiar with when Brighid jots down a new memory.

The light from outside is hitting Brighid at just the right angle, accentuating the curves of her exposed skin. Her ether lines are slightly aglow, activated by the heat that she is sending to Mòrag through their link. Brighid’s hair cascades down back, softly moving as the light wind breezes against it.

Sometimes Mòrag truly wishes they could stop for longer than this, so that she could think about how thankful she is that Brighid is hers and she is Brighid’s. But alas, they only have moments like these, so she will take what she can get.

As she is lost in her thoughts admiring her Blade, Mòrag notices when the movement of Brighid’s arm stops, a hand placing itself on her hip. Though Mòrag knows when Brighid wants to be alone with her journal, the lack of movement suggests her Blade is either finished or lost in thought.

Curious, Mòrag decides to stand and make her way over to Brighid. She looks over at her, and copies her pose on the adjacent wall of the opening.

“Is something on your mind, Brighid?”

Brighid turns towards her, smile adorning her face as she catches sight of Mòrag.

“I was just getting a feel for the area, that is all. Though this ancient architecture is interesting, there is not a lot to determine where exactly we are.”

Of course—Brighid is always so vigilant to make note of the landmarks they discover, to ensure they’ll be able to find their way back if need be. That, and she knows that Brighid appreciates all that Alrest has to offer—her Blade truly admires the land and the history comes with it, and it’s one of the many qualities that Mòrag admires strongly.

“Mhm,” Mòrag hums in response, moving closer to Brighid as a strong wind breezes over them. “Though the pillars are grand, it is hard when we’ve only been going downhill….”

“Perhaps we should learn their names, or attribute names themselves. There are several in this distance, and if we leave something of our own…” Brighid halts and turns to the wall behind them, bringing a hand to the concrete. Mòrag feels the ether between them heighten, and Brighid sends enough strength to dismantle a brick and turn it sideways.

“There. That’s quite the mark, is it not?”

Mòrag turns fully towards Brighid now, and her Blade does the same. They take a moment to just look at each other—the subtle sound of glistening snow falling, soft winds pushing against the outside of the pillar; it really was easy to forget that they were not alone.

A thought crosses in her mind as she catches a glance of the overturned brick in her peripheral vision.

“It is quite the grand idea, actually. Perhaps….we should leave our mark in more places,” Mòrag suggests, even surprising herself when she voices the idea aloud.

She doesn’t miss Brighid’s raised eyebrows as she closes the space between them. “Do you believe that would enhance our memories of these places?”

Really, it’s an interesting idea. Though she’s the Special Inquisitor and Brighid is the Royal Blade, they’ve really only _been_ to Gormott and Mor Ardain. She’d previously been to Indol and Uraya, before all of this, but all their time there was just inside large buildings and constant meetings, never truly able to _see_ any landmarks or make their own.

“I’m not sure,” she says honestly, because really she doesn’t. She has this desire to leave a mark on the world—proof that she was there, and she is not particularly sure why.

Brighid surprises Mòrag by linking an arm through hers, and holding her journal out in front of them. “I would say this documentation is of the same idea, no?”

Was there a difference between leaving a mark on the land versus written words? Mòrag had not particularly thought about it that way. She had never had the same affinity for journaling as Brighid—the dedication that her Blade puts into ensuring each and every memory is immortalized is honourable.

Though she watches each night as Brighid glides ink across a page, Mòrag had never put much thought to creating one herself. She is not a Blade, after all—when she dies, she will simply pass on, not still exist in the fabric of their world.

Mòrag watches as Brighid carefully glides a finger along the pages of her journal, selecting a section in the centre. Brighid’s journal is far from an enigma to her, and she has seen what Brighid has shown her. But, she does not pry—it is Brighid’s, and Mòrag understands that. When Brighid does open up her journal to her, like in this moment, she is almost overwhelmed with admiration for her Blade. The trust they have with each other is like no other pair in Alrest.

She likes to believe so, anyway. Nothing has proved her wrong yet—she highly doubts anything will, either.

Shifting her weight so that she is leaning against Brighid’s shoulder and can see what Brighid has decided to show her. The page is dedicated to landmarks they’ve come across on their travels, sectioned off according to the Titan.

“Each of my future selves will always know that I have previously been here, that I have left my mark. The way I drew them is exactly how I see these places,” Brighid begins, gliding a finger over the one labelled “Leftherian Archipelago”, written in Brighid’s delicate calligraphy. There’s light colours across the page, blues and whites from the different inks that Brighid collects.

“Leftheria,” Brighid continues, “A truly unique place, would you not say? Do you remember, the isle with the grand roof and pink ether, standing out against the others?”

“Yes, the Isle of Sleeping Remains, was it?” Mòrag pictures it in her memories—one of the larger islands of the Archipelago, and quite unique compared to the others, in both its look and the hostility of the creatures that lived there. “It did stand out, now that I think of it.”

“Do you think it will keep that name, as the years go on? Or will it change, one day, and thus that landmark becomes specifically what we remember it as?”

Mòrag looks down at the page, and then back to meet Brighid’s face. Brighid is looking at her, smiling softly, and Mòrag understands. The places they’ve been, they had learned their names through the people who lived there or the people who knew the region; on the rare occasion, even named their own—the Fief of Forgetfulness comes to mind, buried beneath the industrialization of Alba Cavanich.

Brighid continues, voice soft. “Traveling is not something Blades often get to do, and I am lucky to be in the position where I am able to—especially alongside you, Lady Mòrag.”

The journal’s pages rustle in the wind, and Brighid delicately turns the page back to what she had been working on, a new page that begins with Tantal. Brighid’s other hand slowly moves behind Mòrag, finding its place on her lower back.

She gets it, now. She didn’t need to leave her mark, for anyone else—they do it for themselves. Each part of the land is how they perceive it; the landmark what they remember it as, not as how someone remembers them there.

“I am grateful that I too get to see the wonders of Alrest alongside you, Brighid.” Mòrag shifts her weight and reciprocates Brighid’s gesture, placing her own arm around Brighid’s waist.

“Putting our own perspectives to these landmarks does merit reward,” she continues. “We have been places few are able to visit, within their lifetime. I suppose it does make more sense, then, to write it how we see it, and share it later, instead of leaving a mark where no one possibly can.”

“Precisely, Lady Mòrag. I am glad I could help guide that perspective,” Brighid laughs softly, sending warmth through their ether link as the sky begins to cloud over with the fog of nighttime.

“You do always know my own thoughts before I do,” Mòrag responds, holding Brighid a bit tighter. For once, she does not particularly care that they aren’t alone—the others are all oblivious, anyways, and there is no harm in an isolated tower in the middle of a snowy wasteland.

“That I do, Lady Mòrag.” Brighid chuckles, and places her journal back underneath her arm to lean into Mòrag’s touch. “Now, what do you think we should call this place?”

“Hm? Did Zeke not mention anything?”

“No, he said most of these areas don’t have names outside of directions, as not enough people come down here. I think it’s worthy of a name, do you not?”

It is quite a large area to not be named. They’re just about at the bottom of the stairs, off to the side. The area outside is almost like a pedestal, large stream of ice one one side and stairs on the other. The glisten of Tantal’s snow mixed with the ether that naturally flows through the air creates a soft green light; creating a luminous glow across the land.

“Lumos Pedestal,” she decides, combining the words of an Ancient language she had once found a book on and the grand height of where they were standing. “I think it suits this area quite well.”

Brighid laughs softly, drawing a blue flame of her own to accentuate the glow outside. “It suits the area perfectly, Lady Mòrag.”

Though no one else will know they’ve deemed this the Lumos Pedestal, they don’t have to. Mòrag and Brighid had left their mark here through their conversation and pondering, and though their footprints will be covered by fresh snow in the morning, they will both remember the wonder of it all.

For now, it is between Mòrag and Brighid and their journey with the Aegis that was once only believed to be that of legend. It will be written in Brighid’s journal, immortalizing the names they’d given the landmarks, unique to them and them only—and for now, that is more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to think they name some of these landmarks, anyway, not everywhere has signs, right?
> 
> (also disclaimer, i do not understand the physics of fire but this is a fantasy video game and uh, rules are out the window)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are appreciated as always and once again, Follow [@XBCFemSlash](https://twitter.com/XBCFemslash) to so much wonderful content!!!


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